Already shorthanded after Suter’s injury, the Predators were unable to exact much retaliation toward the Flames to quiet the 6-foot-4, 207-pound Sarich. So would Belak’s physical presence have made a difference in the game?

“Maybe at times, but at the other end, you have to be team-tough,” Nashville Coach Barry Trotz said. “There’s going to be hits, it’s part of the game where you’re going to get hit.”

The fact that the game was 0-0 after regulation probably would have prevented Belak from an enforcement-type maneuver.

“I think the best way to respond to that is to go out and hit him as hard as he’s hitting us,” Belak said. “There is instigator rules now, he’s not going to fight guys.”